Left Behind: The Kids - The Perils of Love rewrite
by leftbehindthekids
Summary: Rewrite of book 38, which will definitely have a lot more Judd and Vicki moments instead of a paragraph long wedding.


Judd Thompson Jr. was dumbstruck. It had taken him more than half the tribulation to return to his fiancee, Vicki, but now he was trapped in New Babylon, the headquarters of Nicolae Carpathia, and the heatwave had ended. Oh the heatwave! The heatwave had been both a blessing and a curse to Judd, sure it was a judgement and it meant that he saw hundreds just burn to death in front of him, but for the first time in a long time it had allowed for the easy movement of believers. It had meant that he could get home, that he could spend time with Vicki. The heatwave had brought him back to her. The heatwave had rekindled the spark they had had since they met all that time ago in Mount Prospect, when he was a rebellious teenager, an under achiever, and Vicki was a rock-chick, a wild party girl. He remembered how different it was back then, sat in that room in New Hope with Bruce, Ryan, Lionel, Vicki and himself. It felt like a lifetime ago, and it was, but he had never lost his feelings for Vicki ever since they first met. Sure, he wouldn't have admitted it back then, but he had felt something and to deny it would be foolish. And the heatwave had reignited the flame within him, the one that had been slowly flickering the entire time he was away, was now an inferno. It took over his being, his every thought, emotion and motive involved her, and how she would be affected. The heatwave had given him so much, it had allowed him to propose, to get engaged. It had allowed the Young Tribulation Force to move, for the co-operative to operate, it had allowed for this trip without Vicki to New Babylon, where it now seemed his luck had run out. The heatwave was over, the GC and citizens of the city were reemerging into the world, regaining their vice like grip. There was no way any of the believers would be able to leave now, and there seemed no way he could get home. It was whilst he was thinking of how dire his situation was that the cell phone started to vibrate.

"Hello?" Judd answered in a whisper, in case any Peacekeepers were outside.

"Judd? It's Chang, again." came the reply. Chang Wong phoning back so soon could only mean one thing.

"What's up?" Judd said feebly, bracing himself for whatever could pssibly becoming next.

"I have to be quick, Judd, but I must tell you. The GC are aware of the cooperative movement in the area during the last judgement. They're going door-to-door to search for the offenders. Get somewhere safe, Judd, I'll pray for y-"

"Chang, thank you for telling me, but could you please do me a favor? Get the word back to Vicki of whatver happens to me before she finds out on the news." Judd said, as the news barely sunk in.

"I'll do my best." and the line clicked dead.

Judd set the phone down again, relayed the news to the others and sighed. The air suddenly felt dense, as though there was a vacuum, sucking all the life from his body, all the hope, all the love, all the emotion. He felt empty. How could he have come so far, just to be foolishly separated again, and trapped. Trapped in the one place on earth he shouldn't be. The world was spinning as Judd sat down in the corner, and began to close his eyes. There was no use in trying to run, and this hiding place was as good as any they would find. He listened to the murmurs of the others trying to figure out a plan as he drifted away with his thoughts. He thought of home, he thought of Vicki, he thought of Lionel, he thought of his friends, all the people he met over the years. He thought of how many had died, and how much suffering there had been. He thought of is mom, of his dad, and of Marc and Marcie. He thought about how old they would be now, and how much better they would be at this than him. He was glad they weren't here though, that they were safe, away from the horrors of the mortal world. He thought of all the places he had been, of Wisconsin, of Israel, of France, of New Babylon. He thought of the last time he was here, when he saw Pavel, he thought of Nada. Nada. The thought of her was always accompanied with guilt. She had loved him and he had just used her, cast her aside. He had broke her heart and never even had the chance to say sorry. _I'm bad at that,_ he thought, _I'm awful at not saying that I'm sorry. I hope Vick' knows how sorry I am._ He murmured a prayer for those in the room, as well as one for Vicki and the others back in the states, and let himself go, and let his mind wander farther still as he drifted into a tormented slumber. A sudden beating of wood brought him crashing back into the room.

"GC, open up!" boomed a voice from upstairs.

Judd's blood froze.


End file.
